suicidal

[soo-uh-sahyd-l]

adjective

1. pertaining to, involving, or suggesting suicide.

2. tending or leading to suicide.

3. foolishly or rashly dangerous.

   He drives at a suicidal speed.

suicidal

/ ˌsjuː-, ˌsuːɪˈsaɪdəl /

adjective

1. involving, indicating, or tending towards suicide

2. liable to result in suicide

   a suicidal attempt

3. liable to destroy one's own interests or prospects; dangerously rash

Other Word Forms

• suicidally adverb
• pseudosuicidal adjective
• unsuicidal adjective
• unsuicidally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of suicidal¹

First recorded in 1770–80; suicide + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Maine currently has a “yellow flag” law that gives authorities a way to confiscate guns from a person who’s dangerous or suicidal.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Megan Garcia, a Florida mom who sued Character.AI last year, alleges the company failed to notify her or offer help to her son who expressed suicidal thoughts to chatbots on the app.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

OpenAI this week released data suggesting that more than 1 million people using its generative AI chatbot weekly have expressed suicidal ideation.

Read more on Barron's

OpenAI has released new estimates of the number of ChatGPT users who exhibit possible signs of mental health emergencies, including mania, psychosis or suicidal thoughts.

Read more on BBC

Total strangers in prison who watched the film later approached him to open up about their own suicidal thoughts, he says.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• dangerous 
• deadly 
• depressed 
• destructive 
• fatal 
• lethal